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American Morning

Samuel Alito Back in Senate Hot Seat; 10-Hour Hostage Standoff in Florida

Aired January 11, 2006 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien. Samuel Alito is back in the Senate hot seat. Democrats had all night think about it. What questions will they throw at him today in another marathon confirmation hearing. We're live on Capitol Hill this morning.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. A 10-hour hostage standoff in Florida, and it ends with a sniper's bullet. We'll take you there live.

Bullets also flying in Las Vegas, in a robbery that looks kind of like an action movie. Now police are on the lookout for a dangerous casino bandit.

S. O'BRIEN: And a factory fire has people running for cover in Pennsylvania.

Look at that smoke.

Details ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning. It is Wednesday, hump day as they say.

S. O'BRIEN: You had to think about that for a minute, didn't you?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I have to sort of mentally keep track.

And anyway, good to have you with us this morning. Another big day on Capitol Hill for Judge Samuel Alito.

S. O'BRIEN: Certainly is. Yes, it is.

It begins in just about two-and-a-half hours from now. Ten hours in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday didn't seem to shake the Supreme Court nominee, and if all today goes well, he could be on his way to confirmation. A conservative victory, a majority rather of the Supreme Court.

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is watching the hearings this morning from Capitol Hill.

Hey, Bob. Good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. I think it's fair to say the Democrats gave it their best shot yesterday, their best shots, and none landed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Committee Chairman Arlen Specter had predicted a minuet, but Samuel Alito is trying to tiptoe through mine fields such as abortion.

JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I would approach the question with an open mind.

FRANKEN: He would pay close attention, says Alito, to stare decisis, precedents, such as the 33-year-old Roe Vs. Wade decision, but not necessarily.

ALITO: I don't want to leave the impression that stare decisis is an inexorable command, because the Supreme Court has said that it is not.

FRANKEN: As predicted, Alito had to fend off an assault over his past support of strong presidential power. Nobody is above the law, he responded.

And as predicted, Democrats went after Alito for his onetime membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, which was arguing against efforts to diversify the student body.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: CAP was most noted for the fact that they were worried that women, too many women, and too many minorities were going to Princeton.

ALITO: Well, senator, I have racked my memory about this issue, and I really have no specific recollection of that organization.

FRANKEN: In football terms, the Democrats are playing aggressive offense. Republicans, friendly defense.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: So let me just ask you directly, on the record, are you against women and minorities attending colleges?

ALITO: Absolutely not, senator, no.

HATCH: No, I felt that that would be your answer. I really did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tough question, Orrin! Tough question!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Senator Specter kidding Senator Hatch for asking such a toughball question. But, frankly, Soledad, the Democrats weren't doing much better.

S. O'BRIEN: And in fact, it doesn't look like they've been able to trip Alito up in any way, shape, or form. If today goes like yesterday, do you think -- or is the speculation out there, Bob, that this is basically a breeze to his confirmation?

FRANKEN: Well, I don't think it's a breeze because he is considered quite the conservative and the Democrats, frankly, have a lot to lose here, but I think that if they put up too hard a fight, they might lose more politically. I think that'll be the conclusion they would reach.

Bob Franken for us on Capitol Hill this morning. Bob, thank you.

Reminder, live coverage of the hearings begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Wolf Blitzer is in a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

Also CNN Pipeline subscribers can view gavel-to-gavel replay of the hearings at CNN.com/pipeline.

President Bush says things will get worse in Iraq before they get better. In fact, he's predicting another difficult year ahead. He'll have more to say that on that later today during a stop in Louisville, Kentucky.

Kathleen Koch live at the White House now with a preview.

Good morning, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Well, what this is really a continuation of that more frank and open dialogue that President Bush began having last month with the American public on Iraq. It was then that the White House realized that proclamations that things were going well there simply were not ringing true with American voters, so what we're likely to hear later this morning in Louisville is the president really echoing some of the same tones, same notes that he struck yesterday.

Here in Washington on this speech on Iraq, saying, quote, "that the formation of democracy is messy and chaotic, and that there will be more tough fighting and sacrifice ahead."

And yesterday, President Bush also tried to counter the criticism of U.S. motives for invading Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The American people know the difference between responsible and irresponsible debate when they see it. They know the difference between honest critics who question the way the war is being prosecuted and partisan critics, who claim that we acted in Iraq because of oil, or because of Israel, or because we misled the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now President Bush taking aim there at Democrats like party chairman Howard Dean who, last month, said, quote, "the idea that we're going to win this war is just plain wrong." The White House, of course, worried that Democrats will use the issue of Iraq against the Republicans in the elections that are coming up, the congressional elections, just 10 months away, but Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid say the Democrats will continue to ask the tough questions about Iraq, because U.S. service members and their family, quote, "deserve to know that their leaders are being held accountable" -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the White House, thanks -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Bank holdup and hostage drama played out just about a mile from Walt Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Tourists were stuck in their hotels for hours as policed worked to end the dangerous situation, and it did all end with a single shot.

CNN's John Zarrella is in Kissimmee, Florida this morning.

Hey, John. Good morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad.

Well, right here at the Mercantile Bank back behind me, all quiet this morning, but for more than 10 hours yesterday, two bank robbery suspects held, at one point, four hostages inside that bank. The hostages are all safe tonight, but it did not end until there was a pull of the trigger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): The 10-plus hour standoff between police and two bank robbery suspects holding a hostage ended in a panic attempt to escape, followed by a police sniper's bullet.

SHERIFF BOB HANSELL, OSCEOLA COUNTY, FLORIDA: It's come to a successful end. The hostage have been rescued. We have one hostage- taker in custody and one's deceased.

ZARRELLA: Shortly after 7:00 p.m. local time, the two suspects, a man and a woman, came out of the Mercantile Bank in Kissimmee, using their woman hostage as a shield. They got in a car and tried to get away, but ran over tire-deflation devices placed on the street by police.

HANSELL: He then used the hostage again to get into another vehicle. At that point, he started to leave again. And he was taken down at that point.

ZARRELLA: After the male hostage-taker was shot and killed, police say the female hostage-taker surrendered, slightly wounded, and the hostage was freed.

Police say they first learned about the crime at 9:30 a.m., when they got a call that a robbery was in progress. They arrived at the bank before the suspects could get away.

Initially, the robbery suspects took four people hostage. Three were released during the course of the day in exchange for cigarettes, a lighter, and an agreement that the SWAT team would move back. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Now, police told me that there were bits of surprise that they tried to make a break for it, the bank robbers, because they thought that the negotiations had been going well, but police say the hostage-taker told them he would not give up his last hostage; that was his only bargaining chip. And again, Soledad, they decided to end it right here in this parking lot because they did not want the hostage-takers on the move with a hostage -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: John Zarrella. Thanks, John, for that report.

We're going to have much more on the story this morning. Sheriff Bob Hansell is going to join us in just about 15 minutes.

The hunt is on in Las Vegas for the man who held up a casino. Have you seen these surveillance pictures? there he is right there. He's wearing that baseball cap, and a wig, too. Police say he's about six feet tall, in his late 20s. And then this dramatic scene. Take a look as he runs out of the casino, he's firing shots at officers. Apparently hit one officer right in the leg, dropped some money, too. It's unclear at this point just how much cash he was actually able to get away with.

M. O'BRIEN: In the wake of the Sago mine disaster, another deadly mine incident to tell you about this morning, this one in Kentucky. In this case, one miner is dead.

Our Keith Oppenheim is in Pikeville. That's about a hundred miles from Lexington.

Keith, give us details.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

The mine is called the Maverick Mine. You can see the gated entrance behind me. The actual entrance into the earth is four miles down that road. And today, there will be two state agencies conducting an investigation into what happened yesterday. The miner who died was 44-year-old Cornelius Yates. Cornelius Yates at 3:00 yesterday afternoon was inside the mine, about 900 feet in the mine. He was under the canopy of a roof-bolting machine when a huge chunk of mine roof fell on top of him. That chunk was about 20x10x3 1/2 feet. And then, about an hour later after the accident happened, there was a nine-member rescue team that went in and found Yates dead inside the mine.

Despite the accident, though, state officials were quick to defend the state's record on mine inspections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK YORK, KY. ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC EDU.: Until every miner returns home safely from his or her shift, we're not going to be satisfied. We're going to do everything we can. And our administration has been doing that. Governor Fletcher, when he took office, one of his first actions at our request was to add additional mine safety inspectors, and that number is up. We've also increased the number of inspections that we've done every year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: Again, about an hour after that inspection took place, there were officials that went into the mine, or are going to be going into the mine today, Miles. One of the questions in this case is why it happened. No clear answers yet, but that's what we're hoping to find out as the day continues.

Back to you.

Keith Oppenheim, we'll check in with you later. We'll get more for you as it develops, perhaps the biggest, most vexing question that lingers in the wake of Sago, is why didn't the miners simply walk out instead of barricading themselves in? Well, now it appears they did try to ram their way out in a mine car, but became blocked. This according to the brother-in-law of the only survivor, Randy McCloy. He told the Associated Press the mine company president confirmed the escape attempt. He says there are footprints to prove it. And the governor's office in West Virginia confirms this story as well.

Meanwhile, Randy McCloy remains in critical condition this morning. Doctors say they have seen a lot activity, however, on both sides of his brain. They're unsure how much damage was done by the lack of oxygen during his 41 hours trapped inside the Sago mine -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Environmental experts this morning are monitoring the scene of a smoldering adhesives plant in Pennsylvania. Last night, a huge explosion rocked the Glen Rock plant. Take a look at these pictures. And a giant fireball, clouds of thick smoke, too, spewing from the blaze. People were told to stay indoors, to try to avoid potentially hazardous fumes. Well, this morning, the blaze is out, and the order to stay indoors has been lifted.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, the road to recovery in New Orleans. Today the city unveils its long-awaited rebuilding plans. And guess what? almost immediately, there's controversy. We've got a preview.

M. O'BRIEN: There's consistency in that story at least.

Also dozens of dogs across the country die after eating dog food that is toxic. What every pet owner needs to know this morning. Stay with us for that.

S. O'BRIEN: And did this guy, this author, con Oprah? There are accusations that his best-selling book is just full of lies. The story behind "A Million Little Pieces," ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, more on that 10-hour hostage standoff in Florida. Just how risky was it to use a sniper to end the ordeal with a single shot? We're going to talk to the local sheriff this morning.

And later, millions of people bought his book because Oprah Winfrey said run out and buy it. But are James Frey's bestselling memoirs nothing but a bunch of lies? We'll take a look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We've been reporting all morning about the tense hostage standoff near Walt Disney World in Florida. Police and SWAT team members kept the situation under control, they say, just as long as they could, but in the end, it took a single shot from a police sniper to change everything.

Joining us this morning from Kissimmee, Florida is the man who was in charge of that situation, Osceola County Sheriff Bob Hansell.

Nice to see you, sheriff. Thanks for talking with us.

HANSELL: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: You must be pleased at the end of the day at how this was resolved, because you had four hostages at one point, two hostage-takers. One hostage-taker is now dead, but everybody else has survived.

HANSELL: Yes, ma'am. It wasn't the best successful end, but it was a successful end, knowing that the hostages were unharmed and returned safely.

S. O'BRIEN: What exactly happened to make the negotiations fail, do you think? We know when they had four hostages, you started negotiating. And in fact, police, because they were in the area, actually were able to respond pretty quickly. You negotiated for hours upon hours. At what point did the negotiations start stalling?

HANSELL: Well, when he released the first three hostages, we continued to negotiate with him, but at the end, he was saying that his leverage was the last hostage, he was not going to release her, and then his actions by trying to go mobile with the vehicle, you know, pushed us to force a resolution that came to.

S. O'BRIEN: All of these negotiations are going on from inside the bank, then he takes the fourth hostage, along with the cohort in this robbery, they get into a vehicle and drive away. You guys had placed those things that pop tires when people are escaping on the highway. What happened then?

HANSELL: Yes, ma'am. They ran over the tire-deflation devices. We had the road blocked off. They went down the road just a short ways, turned back, went back into the parking lot of the bank. And upon their exit of the bank, we secured the bank so they could not return back in the bank, and then the standoff continued in the parking lot in the car with the deflated tires.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think their plan when they realized they were meeting up against blocked sheriff's vehicles that in fact they were trying to get back into the bank?

HANSELL: Well, that's what we assumed, he was trying to go back to where he came from and that's why we took ownership from the bank, to secure it from them being able to go back in there and start the incident all over again.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, then he takes that hostage. This is the fourth hostage, the only remaining hostage, and they all get into an SUV, and they start the car up. Where did they get keys to start the second escape vehicle?

HANSELL: The keys were employee's keys that were from the bank. They had gathered them up, just like the car prior to that on their escape was an employee's car.

S. O'BRIEN: At what point was the decision made that a sniper has to come in and take this guy out?

HANSELL: Well, we had discussed not letting the suspects go mobile again, because that just greatly multiplies the risk to the hostage, and the sniper was able to make contact with the driver of the vehicle, which is the male hostage-taker. And after that, the female immediately surrenders.

S. O'BRIEN: When you say make contact, of course you mean you shot him and killed him. What about the risk to the hostage and herself? I mean, she's sitting in the back with the second bank robber. You got to be a pretty good sniper to make sure that you kill the people you're trying to kill and you don't end up killing the hostage. And we've seen that happen certainly in these situations that have gone horribly wrong.

HANSELL: Yes, ma'am. He's a highly trained officer. We -- they train to only initiate the target that they're after. It was a clean shot, as far as no other presence. He was in front seat, they were in the back seat, the two females were in the back seat. The female hostage and the female hostage-taker. He had the shot, he took it. And like I said, after the initial contact with the male hostage- taker, she immediately surrendered.

S. O'BRIEN: How is that hostage doing today?

HANSELL: I haven't gotten an update so far at the scene. She was, of course, distraught, but physically, she was fine.

S. O'BRIEN: Terrible, terrible story, and as you say, with a somewhat good ending, considering that all of the hostages actually survived the ordeal.

Bob Hansell, sheriff of Osceola County, thank you for talking with us this morning. Appreciate it.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, ma'am. You're welcome -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, the city of New Orleans unveils its first blueprint for rebuilding later today. Already there's a lot of controversy over where to rebuild, how to rebuild. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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